MOSCOW, August 10. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said attempts to resolve political issues through such illegal actions as the recent hostage crisis in Armenia are inadmissible.
"(Armenian President) Serzh (Sargsyan) has informed me about the recent, I would say tragic events in Yerevan related to the hostage taking," Putin said after the talks with his Armenian counterpart.
"I want to emphasize and recall that Russia strongly condemned the militants’ actions from the very beginning," he said. "We believe that any attempts to address acute political issues through illegitimate, unconstitutional actions are inadmissible."
At dawn, on July 17, about 30 armed attackers linked to Armenia’s radical opposition rammed into the gates of a Yerevan police station driving a Kraz dump truck and opened fire. In the ensuing shootout, a deputy squad commander was killed, with some policemen and attackers sustaining injuries. In the chaos that followed, the assailants managed to abduct on-duty cops and top police brass who arrived at the scene for negotiations. Among those taken hostage are two senior police officials, Major General Vartan Yegiazaryan, Armenia’s deputy police chief, and Colonel Valery Osipyan, Yerevan’s deputy police chief.
All the assailants surrendered to the Armenian authorities on July 31.